In Trump’s White House, China’s Dictator Is Welcome. American Media, Less So.

President Trump barred several American journalists from entering the White House this week even as he welcomed a large delegation of Chinese reporters covering President Xi Jinping's visit, prompting comparisons about his posture toward press freedom and authoritarian leaders. Reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico were initially turned away Thursday morning despite a court order, though they were admitted later in the day; by late afternoon, CNN still had not been restored to the White House press pool that supplies daily footage of the president. Television networks had been boycotting the pool until Trump's staff agrees in writing to readmit CNN cameras, meaning American broadcasters did not cover Xi's arrival, which was marked with considerable ceremony, according to The New York Times.

The same week, Trump met amicably with New York's democratic socialist mayor, rolled out a red carpet for Xi, and continued running government-funded ads warning against the United States becoming socialist or communist. He is also engaged in an economic dispute with Canada's prime minister while inviting Russian President Vladimir V. Putin to visit his Florida golf club. Trump has justified restricting American outlets by calling them a national security threat and criticizing their coverage of him as too "negative," even as he extends hospitality to Xi and Putin, leaders of governments that suppress free speech at home.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The New York Times’s reporting. Read the full story at The New York Times →